Archive of Our Own

In her golden-studded headband, dolled-up ponytail, light yellow dress with a hot pink bow, and fancy cream-colored shoes, Chloe Bourgeois sits just like a princess on the bottom two steps of the spiral staircase in her friend Adrien’s room. She holds her stuffed bear named Mister Cuddly close to her heart, because the closer he is, the better he’ll be protected from Adrien’s meanie cousin’s attacks. 

Leaning on the edge of the long, white couch, Felix smirks and faces Chloe in total disrespect. “You still have a stuffed animal? What are you, three?”

“Oh, yeah? Well- well- I know you still have that bunny stuffy!” Chloe pouts, squeezing Mister Cuddly even tighter.

“I don’t. But even if I did, I wouldn’t be bringing it with me everywhere like a baby.”

“I don’t do that! But- uh, at least I have friends!”

Felix twitches in anger, but he calms himself by crossing his arms. “So?”

“Sabrina and Adrien are my best friends! And- and Adrien adores me! We’re gonna grow up and get married! That’s what Mommy said!”

“Oh, really? Let’s ask him, then.” Felix flicks his bangs to the side, making himself look just like his cousin. He innocently blinks his eyes. “My name is Adrien and I’ll never love Chloe! Gross! Blech!”

“Stop it! Stop!” Chloe shouts, jumping to her feet and causing her dress to bounce and Mister Cuddly to swing wildly. “That’s not funny! Fake Adrien!”

Felix brings a hand to his face in pretend worry. “Aww, did I hurt your little baby feelings?” He drops the act and smirks once more. “You’re so pathetic.”

“Am not!” she shouts again and stomps her feet. “Fake Adrien!”

“Your feelings are as fake as your personality.”

“Not as fake as- as fake as that lame outfit! I bet you got it from a dumpster!”

“Really? Fashion?” Felix pauses, judging her, then he glares at her. “You don’t know anything about me. That’s why I can’t stand spoiled brats like you. Why are you even here?”

“Because my daddy—the mayor — said I could be, that’s why! And if you don’t stop being a total meanie,” she stops in front of him with her pointer finger almost touching his nose, “I’m gonna call him and you’re gonna be sent right back to America!”

He remains unfazed, bringing his hands behind his back. “Try it, I dare you. But you won’t get anywhere, because my father is a monster, and so is yours.”

“No, Daddy is not !”

“Yes, he is.”

“Is not!”

“Is too.”

While Chloe and Felix bicker like enemies for like, ten million years, the real Adrien has been having a good time in the kitchen with his mother and Sabrina. The oven timer dings, and the two kids are more eager than ever to see the results after getting a taste of the yummy raw cookie dough, all thanks to Emilie. She pulls the tray out of the oven with purple oven mitts and sets it nicely on the stovetop, revealing the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. They’re perfectly golden and warm with the perfect crunch, and honestly, you can’t get any more perfect than that. 

Emilie takes off the mitts and turns to the kids. “Thank you both for helping me with these cookies. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“But,” Adrien tilts his head, “you’ve done it by yourself for me before?”

Taken by surprise, she warmly smiles. “Oh, my little prince. You’re so smart.” She ruffles his hair, and he happily leans into it. “You are absolutely right.”

Sabrina takes a big sniff of the cookies and sighs in total satisfaction. “They smell so good.” Startled by her own excitement, she becomes shy and speaks softly. “I- I don’t normally eat cookies because Daddy is usually tired after work. He’s a police officer.”

“Oh! That means he’s keeping the city safe. Like this!” Adrien strikes a cool, strong pose. He punches the air at a ghost bad guy, making Emilie laugh.

Sabrina giggles with her, becoming a little more comfortable. “Yeah. Just like that.”

“Then it sounds like we’ll have to make cookies for you every time you visit, Sabrina,” Emilie suggests.

“Really?” Sabrina grins.

Adrien punches once more in encouragement. “Yeah!”

Emilie puts the fresh cookies on a plate and leads the excited kids upstairs. Adrien holds onto her free hand and Sabrina holds onto his other hand with a large bag of popcorn in her remaining hand. When they arrive, Chloe’s face is completely red and she’s almost crying. Wait, no, she definitely is crying now. Her eyes lock on Adrien’s the moment he steps in the room. 

“Adrikins!” she calls, running to him. She gives him a hug, gripping Mister Cuddly in her hand. “It’s about time you came back. Felix is being a meanie!”

Tongue-tied, Adrien can’t decide if he wants to comfort her or let go. He looks up to Emilie, who gives him a warm nod of approval. Adrien slowly pats Chloe’s back. “There, there… What did Felix do?”

“Everything!” Chloe pouts, hugging him tighter. Sabrina reaches out to her but hesitates. 

“I don’t know why she’s so upset, Aunt Emilie.” 

Felix stands innocently in the middle of the room, just like an angel who has done nothing wrong, ever. Maybe he didn’t do anything wrong, and Chloe is being dramatic as usual, just like her mommy, but we all know the truth here.

Emilie places the plate of cookies on the table and raises an eyebrow at her nephew, realizing something is up with him. “Felix, I know you love your pranks. If you did something to upset Chloe, please apologize. She’s a guest here, just like you, and she deserves to be treated nicely. Isn’t that right, Adrien?”

Adrien furiously nods. Sabrina nods with him.

Felix gasps in shock. Emilie’s words sink deep into his heart. He’s used to people not liking him, but he doesn’t like it when it’s Emilie or Adrien. He gives them the biggest, guiltiest puppy eyes, then he sighs in defeat. 

“Okay. This is for you, my favorite aunt and cousin.” He turns to Chloe, who is peeking her head out of the hug with Adrien. “ Sorry , Chloe. I’ll be better from now on.”

“Hmph!” Chloe huffs, turning back to Adrien and gripping his sleeve. 

“Thank you, Felix. I hope you stay true to your word. Now, how about we watch a movie?”

Gently releasing himself, Adrien runs over and gives Emilie a hug, reigniting his excitement. “I wanna watch your movie, Mom!”

She playfully ruffles his hair again, smiling. “Not that one, Adrien.” 

He pouts, but he’s not actually that upset about it. 

“How about another?”

Adrien pauses, giving it a lot of thought. Like, a lot of thought. Suddenly, he jumps and eagerly chants, “Ultimate Mecha Strike! Ultimate Mecha Strike!” 

Emilie chuckles. “Is that okay with everyone else?”

“I wanna watch whatever Adrikins wants to watch.”

“I also wanna watch whatever Adrien wants to watch.”

“I’d prefer mystery or horror, but… action is fine too.”

Emilie is speechless. Horror? At six years old? Her American brother-in-law sure is something else.

“Alright, then. Ultimate Mecha Strike: The Movie it is.”

A chorus of yays ring about the room as the kids—except Felix—run in circles, almost bumping into Adrien’s bed, the staircase, the foosball table, the TV, the couch, the piano, the skateboard ramps, and even Felix and each other. 

“Be careful!” Emilie warns, although halfheartedly, as she places the disc in the DVD player. The home screen lights up with the super iconic NAD03 and LB-03 facing each other in their signature battle poses, ready to fight. Emilie turns up the volume and summons the kids. “Okay, settle down, everyone. The movie is about to start!”

Chloe takes Sabrina’s and Adrien’s hands by surprise and drags them with her to the couch. She pushes Adrien up first and climbs up next to him, placing Mister Cuddly safely in her lap, then leans her head onto his shoulder. Although Adrien is hesitant like before, he sighs and allows it, considering Chloe isn’t actually hurting anyone. Sabrina sits on his other side with the bag of popcorn, and Felix reluctantly sits next to Chloe. Emilie sits down at the end next to Felix with a cookie in hand. She presses play on the remote, making the TV screen go dark and silent. The surround sound in the room fills with the clashing and clanking of metal hitting metal, slowly revealing the fighting robots. Sabrina jumps in fear, hiding her face in Adrien’s shoulder. 

“It’s okay, Sabrina,” he whispers. “The robots are cool, just like your dad.”

She looks up to him in realization, then smiles. She turns to the screen again and glances down, then sets her hand on his. Adrien gasps and glances at her again for a moment, then warmly smiles and wraps his hand around hers.

“What, no diamonds?” Chloe scoffs, sitting up straight and rolling her eyes. “Who wears a suit without diamonds? These robots are ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”

Adrien turns his head toward her. “I think they’re great, Chlo. This is my second favorite movie, you know.”

Chloe freezes, tongue-tied. She shuts her mouth and sinks down into her seat, realizing she definitely said something wrong. “…Well, maybe they’re okay after all…”

“Let’s be quiet and enjoy the movie, okay?” Emilie suggests. Felix remains dutifully quiet, and the other three agree.

As the movie goes on, everyone is glued to the screen. Felix, Chloe, and Emilie take turns devouring a bunch of cookies, while Adrien and Sabrina snack on the popcorn. Sabrina grips Adrien’s hand tighter every time there’s a mildly intense moment, and he responds with a reassuring smile.

Chloe mumbles occasional critiques about the fashion or wealth of most characters, but becomes quieter as the romance progresses. Felix flips between being bored and interested, probably because his father is an expert with war and fighting technology, and the movie is about robots and fighting. He seems to care less about the actual fight scenes and more about the technology and, surprisingly, the romance and secret identity drama between the two main human characters behind the robots. At the confession scene, Felix smirks. 

“Now this is true, deep love, unlike your shallow feelings, Chloe.”

Chloe, fully interested in the romance, doesn’t take his bait. “Look, Adrikins!” She jabs Adrien with her elbow and points to the screen with her half-eaten cookie. “Did you see that? They’re enemies, but they totally like each other!”

“You’re just parroting what I said.”

“Not true! I’m not a parrot!”

“It’s an expression.”

“And as if you know anything about love. I bet you’ve never been in love!”

“Children, children,” Emilie interrupts with a laugh. “Love is for when you’re older, when you’re teenagers and adults.”

Adrien, who has been giggling, eyes Chloe and Felix. “You know, Chloe, you’re right. Enemies do attract.” 

Sabrina giggles with him, which totally baffles Chloe. “What’s so funny?” she asks, frowning as they exchange amused glances.

“Oh, nothing,” Adrien teases with a grin.

“Be nice, everyone, or bedtime will come earlier,” Emilie warns. 

Chloe pouts in defeat. Turning to Felix, she catches his glare and huffs, finishing her cookie. 

By the end, the popcorn and cookies are completely gone. Adrien and Sabrina are asleep, still holding hands. Although definitely not intentionally, Chloe’s head is now resting on Felix’s shoulder. Felix couldn’t care less, drifting off and nodding his head in a final attempt to stay awake. 

Emilie gets up and sets a large, comfortable blanket over them. Felix gently closes his eyes for the night, which is her sign to leave. When she reaches the door, she glances back, and her heart gets warmer by the second. 

“Sweet dreams, little ones.”

If only this moment could last forever.